Why Scale Ups Opt for a Self-Management Tool?

Today’s organizations are opting for self-managed modules, ones where teams can become independent and individuals are able to work autonomously. With that being said, startups and scale up organizations are more than ever looking to practice an agile approach for bolder and far more effective results.

We interviewed our friends at Yobbers for an insight into how they have managed their quick growth from a startup to a scale up – adopting a Holacracy practice. Yobbers is an online recruitment agency that connects international job seekers to employers all over the world. ‘Inspiring people to discover the world’ is what drives the organization everyday.

👉 But what are the main reasons scale ups are looking to adopt agile tools for their teams? 

For a clearer overview of what self-management can do for organizations, Global Focus sheds light on leaderships in self-managed organizations: "For the last 20 years companies such as Semco in Brazil, W L Gore in the USA and Mondragon in Spain have been cited as novel examples of running with minimal management interference.

More recently Buurtzorg in the Netherlands, Haier in China and Matt Black Systems in the UK have shown that organisations can be run from the bottom up with true autonomy being given to individuals or teams.”

In this article, will dive in into what are some reasons scale ups opt for a self-management tool:

1. Structure and organization
2. Transparency
3. Flexibility – where remote work is possible 
4. Documentation

🚀 #1 Structure in your organization 

As teams grow and go from startups to scale ups, there is a demand in need: bring structure and organization to its teams. According to Medium, startups are normally encountered with several issues within their scale of growth, one of them being: structure – the article states: “This is where startup founders enter a common dilemma: as the team grows, so does the complexity of the organization and it becomes clear that some kind of intermediate hierarchy is structurally required. At the same time, this calls into question the basis of the company’s previous success, its agility, its interpersonal closeness and looseness, and the feeling of being part of a self-chosen family.”

👉 So how do scale ups are able to bring structure to their teams? 👈

By introducing a self-managing tool part of their day-to-day professional life. Documenting everything, centralizing its work and so forth. 

As for our friends at Yobbers they thought it was vital for them to find a tool that brought structure to their teams and organizations, respecting their ways of work – the team adds: “When we started the company back in 2015, we also started directly with the organizational structure of Holacracy. Especially when the team was growing and growing. This created the need for managing the team and keeping the overview in an easy, accessible way.”

That is why they felt a pull to introduce Holaspirit to their teams as a tool to aid with their needs at that time. 

✨ #2 Scale ups look for transparency, too!

Once an organization grows, so does its teams – that is why many scale ups opt for platforms that offer transparency and accountability within their organization. It is key for startups and scale ups to bring transparency within their teams for a better internal communication, and positive working force. According to a study done in 2019 by Job Teaser: 44% expect transparency from their manager – a study that was done to 1,000 people, age target from 18-35. Nowadays young employees expect transparency within the organization they work in, being the “third most cited criterion after autonomy and feedback,” according to the study. 

👉 And how can you do that within your organization and teams? 👈

Have a clear view of who does what, their roles and accountabilities in your organization – regardless of what methodology you practice. 

🔥 With Holaspirit you’re able to improve your internal communication with an overview of tasks, roles and what each member is responsible for.

🫶 #3 Adopting a platform where remote work is possible 

While an organization is in its early stages of development and where teams are not quite as big as mogul companies – 100% remote work is very frequent! So how do scale ups, or startups are able to keep up with time differences, schedules and deadlines when everyone is working from different parts of the city – even world at times? 

Ding ding ⏰ Solution: A platform that offers not only a documentation processes, but meetings templates. 

🔥 With Holaspirit you’re able to create, schedule on-going meetings with your teams with valuable features inside the template; for example: checklists, agenda, OKRs, tensions and so forth. 

Now being in any part of the world can be possible to have/and create effective meetings for continuous communication between teams.  

🔥 Article pick: Effective Team Meeting: Strategies, Agendas, and Checklist Included

In our interview with the team at Yobbers, they were clear from day one that using a tool for documentation was necessary and vital for their growth and teams – they add: “Holaspirit provides us with an easy and automated way to document our tactical and governance meetings and is for us a place where we can easily find everything all together in one place. As Yobbers is growing fast, we need smooth ways of working and solutions that can grow with us.”

🗒 #4 Keeping your documentation centralized 

Another big important factor that scale ups look for in self-management is the opportunity to document your projects every step of the way and being able to centralize everything. 

⭐️ With Holaspirit you’re able to document every step of the process and enhance communication with team members – for example keep track of your projects with detailed information to facilitate your team’s flow allowing things to be clear and transparent for everyone to follow. 

✨ Get your teams on Holaspirit and bring clarity to who does what ✨

🫶  So what is stopping you from going self-managed?

Making the shift to self-management is not an easy task, and organizations look into working with a coach to make the transition a better and smoother one. But working with a methodology that gives autonomy to your employees is a rewarding one – to your organization first and foremost. 

🔥 Article pick: Holacracy Coach, When Do You Need One?

Want to know more about the methodologies and tools that can help you implement self-management in your organization? Read our latest white paper on organizational models to get all the answers you need 👇

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In our white paper "The Ultimate Guide to Organizational Models", you'll get: a comprehensive overview of innovative organizational models (like Agile, Teal, Holacracy, Constitutional Management, and more), testimonials from pioneer organizations that have successfully adopted it, best practices for choosing, implementing and measuring the effectiveness of our model, as well as digital tools to facilitate the transition.